The Burning Question
by DreamWvr73
Summary: 7 in the Min & Johnny Series-- Johnny looks into the death of his father and the mysterious circumstances that surrounded it.


Johnny was carrying a manila envelope and he set it down on the table as he got a coffee mug out of the pantry and set it down on the counter. He went to the pantry and got out a tea bag. He put the little bag into the cup, filled the little silver pot with water and turned on the stove. It was a little after 7 and he was already at work, hoping to use the privacy to look at what he had sent away for.  He tore open the manila envelope and dumped its contents out onto the table, they were several newspaper articles and he began looking through them. 

"Morning Johnny." 

He nearly jumped through the ceiling as he gathered up the newspapers and put them back in the envelope, it was his partner that had startled him.

"Morning Roy."

His partner was dressed in his uniform and opened the pantry and took everything out to start the morning coffee, he then noticed that his partner was using the pot.

"So what are you doing here this early, it's not your turn to cook."

"Nothing much."

"How's Min doing?"

"Pretty good, working hard as usual."

"So how is married life?"

"It's good, pretty much the same as just living together but I still can't get used to hearing Min Gage, I'm so used to Duke it sounds weird."

Roy turned off the stove and poured the hot water into Johnny's cup, he took a spoon out of the drawer and stirred it then handed his partner his tea. "Here you go."

"Thanks."

Roy saw the envelope and began to make coffee. "So what articles were you reading?"

Johnny sighed hoping Roy hadn't seen them, he wasn't going to say anything but then decided to confide in his partner. "If I show you, will you keep it to yourself and not breathe a word?"

Roy was surprised at how serious his partner sounded. "Sure Johnny, you've got my word."

"All right, sit down."

Johnny took the articles back out of the envelope and handed one of them to his partner. "Here, take a look."

Roy sat down at the table and took the article; the headline was in bold lettering. **LOCAL MAN KILLED IN CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENT**.  He read the first few lines and his blue eyes grew wide, he looked at Johnny. "Evan Gage?"

Johnny nodded. "My father."

Roy leaned back in his chair, he was completely floored. "Johnny I had no idea, I mean I knew your father was dead but you never mentioned that he was killed."

"I know, I never told anyone."

Roy read the short article. "It says he died in an accident but it doesn't say what happened."

"I know, it's filled with bull but no information."

"How many articles do you have here?"

"At least 6, I haven't gone through all of them but I'm sure they will all be just as useless."

"It says here that they will release more information when it comes available."

"Yeah but they never did, and not even my mother knows what happened."

"That's tough Johnny, when did this happen?"

"When I was 13."

Roy gave the article back to his partner. "I don't mean to sound mean or anything but what made you decide to start looking into this after almost 15 years?"

Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it started when we went on that trip to Wyoming. I took Min to see his grave and it really upset me. Then later on we were up in my old room and there was this picture of him with me sitting on his lap, it made me realize how short our time together really was. It's been in the back of my mind ever since. I'll be right back." He left and returned with the photo of himself and his father at Halloween, he handed it to Roy.

"Holy Cow! You look exactly like him!"

"I know."

"So do you think you will be able to find out what happened to him?"

"I think so, a lot of the people that worked with him still live in Hollister. I'm going to try and track them down."

"Anyone in particular?"

"No, I don't have any names yet."

Roy got up from the table and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Johnny let me ask you this, what if you do find out about your dad and it's something really bad?"

Johnny sipped his tea and set his cup down. "Then at least I'll know and the questions will be answered."

Min was humming as she stirred the contents of her cooking pot with a wooden spoon, she was making spaghetti sauce and she added a dash of oregano. She heard the front door unlock and she turned to see her Paramedic in shining uniform walk in.

"Hey, care for a taste?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him and offered him her wooden spoon.

Johnny unbuttoned his blue shirt and took it off; he threw it on the couch and accepted the spoon. "Trying to poison me after only three months of marriage, huh?"

Min grinned. "I'm going to have to plead the 5th amendment on that."

He dipped the spoon into the sauce and tasted it. "It's good." He gave her back the spoon and went into the bedroom. Min turned off the sauce and covered it with a lid, she went into the bedroom.

"Honey, is something wrong?"

He was putting on a pair of shorts. "No."

Min walked over to him and lifted his chin with her fingers. "Johnny, we've been together for almost two years, I can always tell when something is wrong, so what is it?"

He looked at her and sighed; he took her hand from his chin and held it. "You do know me that well don't you?"

"Yes I do, what's bugging you?"

He sat down on the bed and looked up at her. "I've been looking into what happened to my father."

Min joined him on the bed. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I don't know."

"Gloria said he died while on the job right?"

"Right, he worked in construction."  
"What have you found out?"

"Nothing, he died in an accident is the only thing I have been able to dig up so far."

Min sighed and squeezed his hand. "What do you want to do?"

Johnny looked at her. "I want to take a few weeks of vacation time and go back to Hollister and see what I can find."

"Are you going to tell your mom what you're doing?"

He shook his head. "Not really, I don't think she would approve."

"Why not?"

"She would tell me that what's done is done and what good would it do to dig up the past."

"If my husband had died and I didn't know exactly how I would want to know."

"I guess she figures that knowing what happened would be too painful."

Min sighed and leaned against his shoulder. "So what do we tell her the reason for our visit is?"

"Vacation time that I have to use or lose."

"Okay, I'll call the airlines and reserve our tickets, when do we leave?"

"Next week."

It was summertime in Wyoming and the weather was just gorgeous. The temperature was in the 80s and it was the perfect shorts weather, which was what Gloria was dressed in when she met Min and Johnny at the gate.

"Hey!" The shorts she was wearing were black and she had a matching black and white striped shirt to go with them.  She put her arms around both of them and hugged them. "How have you been?"

Min was wearing white shorts and a black tank top. "Good, really good, right Johnny?"

"Right."

Johnny was wearing the paramedic shirt that Min had given him and Gloria shook her head and laughed. "Nice shirt!"

He looked at his wife. "See! I told you she would like it!"

"So you are the one that gave it to him?"

Min nodded. "I'm afraid so, I had it especially made and I also gave one to Roy when his anniversary as a paramedic came up."

The threesome started walking towards the baggage area; Gloria in between the couple. "So how long are you going to stay?"

"A few weeks, this time I want to do some exploring maybe look up a few old friends."

Gloria nodded. "Sounds like fun, Johnny maybe you can show Min were you went to school and stuff like that."

Johnny smiled. "I was thinking of taking her up to the old make out point." He looked over at his wife and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "So what do you say?" 

Gloria smacked her son on the arm. "John Roderick Gage!"

"What? She's my wife! It's perfectly legal!"

Min started to laugh. "Gee I don't know I have a reputation to protect."

Johnny reached behind his mother and took his wife's hand. "Don't worry Darling, I promise to respect you in the morning."

Gloria and Min were in the kitchen fixing sandwiches, Min was spreading mustard and mayonnaise on six slices of bread.

"So when are you and Johnny going to make me a grandmother?"

Min stopped spreading and nearly dropped her knife. "You want to be a grandmother so fast?"

"Sure, I've been waiting a long time."

"How about waiting a little longer, we've only been married three months; I would like to wait at least a year or two."

"And what if nature dictates otherwise?"

"That's fine, we did talk about kids and we do want them."

Gloria took the bread from her daughter-in-law. "Level with me Min, what are you guys really doing here besides just visiting?"

Min sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "Is it that obvious?"

"It is to me, I knew something was up when Johnny said he was going to look up old friends."

"What's wrong with that?"

The older woman had put a slice of cheese and a slice of roast beef on the bread and was now adding lettuce and tomato. "All of the people Johnny went to school with aren't here anymore, they've all left and he knows that."

Min put the top on a sandwich and put it on a plate. "If I tell you, do you promise not to say anything to Johnny?"

"I promise."

Min picked up the plate and put it on the table. "All right, we're also here to look into Evan's death."

Gloria looked surprised. "His death?"

"Yeah, Johnny wants to find out exactly how he died."

Johnny's mother sat down at the table. "When did this start?"

"I think it started when he took me to the cemetery."

"You mentioned that he got pretty upset."

Min sat down at the table. "It did but I didn't tell you how much, he went for a walk and he was gone so long I feel asleep in the car waiting for him."

Gloria sighed, deep down she knew all long that someday Johnny would want to know what happened to his father. "I guess I should have seen this coming."

"Gloria, can I ask you something?"

She looked at her daughter-in-law and nodded. "Sure."

"Why didn't you find out what happened?"

"I did try, but no one would tell me anything. I finally got a visit from Howard Jacobson, he owned the construction company and told me that the company was going to pay for the funeral and give me an insurance settlement for a hundred thousand dollars."

"And all you had to do was stop asking questions, right?"

Gloria nodded slowly; she saw the way Min was looking at her. "What was I supposed to do Min? I had a 13 year old son and a cabin that Evan had built with money he borrowed from a bank and had only half paid back. I didn't work and I didn't even have enough money to bury my husband!"

Min touched the older woman's hand. "I think I understand, you did what you thought was best for both you and Johnny."

"I really had no alternatives, it was either stop asking questions or lose everything and losing Evan was hard enough."

"I told Johnny I would help him any way I could, do you remember that day?"

"Yeah, how could I forget it?"

"Does anything come to mind that you think could help?"

Gloria took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The only thing that really stands out about that day is that two of Evan's friends came by in the evening to tell me how sorry they were."

"Do you remember who it was?"

"Ben Pearson and Marty Mathews."

"And they didn't tell you anything?"

"They both were pretty shook up, especially Marty."

"Do they still live here?"

"Yeah, Ben would probably be the best person to talk to; he and Evan were best friends."

"Okay, I'll tell Johnny that you casually mentioned those names."

"He should talk to Marty too, she was really a mess."

Min nodded. "Johnny has a few articles that he sent away for and I looked them over on the plane. They were pretty vague and there was something odd about them but I couldn't quite put my finger on it."

"Odd? In what way?"

"It was like whoever wrote the articles were deliberately covering it up and the articles were from at least 3 different newspapers."

Gloria looked puzzled. "But why would they do that if it was just an accident?"

Min's face grew pensive. "Exactly…and that's the burning question isn't it? What happened to Evan Gage?"

  
Johnny was sitting in a black wrought iron chair on the front porch; he was looking out into the woods remembering some of the times he had spent with his father. They did the typical father-son activities like fishing, playing ball, and Evan had taught Johnny all about horses and how to ride. The two of them always had long talks about the future, and he had told his son to not be afraid to do what was truly in his heart because it was important in this life to be happy. The only thing that had made Johnny truly happy was fire fighting. Evan had even taken Johnny down to the Hollister Fire Department, the men there were very nice and had even given Johnny a ride in the fire truck. Johnny could see his father's smiling face and he would give anything to see it right now, if only for a moment. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he reached up and touched it.

"Bad time?"

Johnny looked up and saw the face of his wife, he shook his head slowly. "No, I was just remembering."

"Your mom and I were talking and she gave me two names that could be helpful."

Johnny pulled on her hand a little; Min walked around the chair and sat down on his lap. "She did?"

Min nodded. "Two people that came to see her the day Evan died, Ben Pearson and Marty Mathews."

"I remember them from the funeral, Ben and Dad were pretty good friends."

"That's what your mom said too, are you going to give them a call and go talk to them?"

"I'll call Ben first."

Min saw how sad her husband was and she touched his cheek. "It really hurts to be here doesn't it?"

He looked at her and nodded slowly. "Yeah it does, he's here in this house and I can feel him. Do you remember when I told you that I hadn't seen my mom in 7 years?"

"Yeah I remember."

"Why didn't you ask me about the math? You know my six year anniversary as a fireman is next month in August, why didn't you ask me what I did before I went into the academy?"

Min shrugged. "Well it did occur to me that there was a missing year but I figured that it was your business and no one else's."

Johnny sighed and put his arms around her. "I left home when I was 20 and went to LA. I didn't know what I was going to do with myself; I wasn't going to become a fireman."

"But I thought that's what you wanted since you were a little kid."

"It was but I didn't want to do it, it reminded me too much of Dad but I didn't know that at the time."

"So what happened to change your mind?"

"I had found a job at a riding stable, and was taking care of horses. I liked it, it was hard work but it paid pretty good. One day there was this guy that was smoking in the stable area, some of the other stable hands got really mad at him and tried to kick him out, it turned physical and he dropped the cigarette in a pile of hay. The fire started and in a matter of seconds everything was burning, I was in the back stalls when I heard the commotion. I started getting all of the horses out, they were whinnying, I could hear them crying for help and I ran back into the smoke to try and free some of them. 

The smoke was thick and I couldn't see, I let a few horses out but the smoke was too much and I remembering fall down. Everything was burning all around me and I tried to get up but I couldn't, it was getting harder to breathe. I thought for sure my number was up, I was lying on my side and I looked up and saw my father standing in the smoke. He was wearing his favorite blue flannel shirt and a pair of jeans, his long hair was blowing. He told me to get on my knees and crawl. I told him that I couldn't and he said that I had to; it wasn't my time to join him. I remember rolling onto my stomach, I felt like I was going to pass out but I clawed at the dirt and slowly started to move. I don't know how far I crawled before someone picked me up and took me out of there."

Min's eyes were huge. "Who picked you up?"

Johnny looked at her and smiled. "It was a fireman, he carried me out and laid me down on the ground and put an oxygen mask on my face. I opened my eyes and saw him; he was this older guy and looked at me. Then he took the mask off and told me that I was lucky, if I hadn't started crawling towards the door he never would have seen me."

Min sighed. "So that's when you decided to go into the academy?"

He nodded. "My father had given me a second chance; I could have died in that fire. I realized how foolish I was being so a few days later I quit and enrolled in the fire academy."

Min smiled at her husband and kissed him. "You made the right decision, you really are good at what you do Johnny and a lot of people in LA owe their lives to you and Roy, including me."

Johnny was feeling a little bit better now, his wife had cheered him up and he got a wicked idea. "So Mrs. Gage, shall we take that trip up to the make out point?"

"You mean right now?"

He nodded his head and grinned at her. "I mean right now!"

"But what about calling Ben?"

"I was going to wait until tomorrow to call."

Min raised an eyebrow at him. "Well…let me think about it and I'll get back to you!"

"Get back to me?" Johnny had his arms around his wife and tucked a hand under her knees. He stood up and had her in his arms like he was about to carry her over the threshold but instead he flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "No one refuses Johnny Gage!"

Min was laughing and kicking her legs. "Put me down you nut!"

"No way! You're mine now woman!" 

"I was just teasing you Johnny! Of _course_ we can go to that make out point!"

Johnny set her down. "Good, I'm glad you see things my way!"

Min put her hands on her hips. "On second thought…"

He tried to grab her to put her back on his shoulder but she ducked out of his reach and started to run.

"Sorry Fireman, you gotta catch this girl before you can have her!" She headed towards the woods. 

Johnny sighed. "Women…why do they always make things so difficult?"

He reached into his blue shorts pocket and took out a pair of sunglasses; he put them on and ran after his wife.

Johnny was upstairs sitting on the bed he shared with Min talking to Ben Pearson on the telephone. Min opened he door a little and saw that her husband was scowling. She walked into the room and sat down on the bed beside him.

"All right I understand that, thank you for your time Ben, bye."

He slammed the phone down hard. "Thanks for nothing!" He covered his face with his hands and sighed.

"I take it that the phone call didn't go too well?"

"No, he said it's been too long and he doesn't remember anything. I should try Marty Mathews."

"Did he have her phone number?"

Johnny uncovered his face and looked at her. "No, he said that she works at this bar called Scallywags and that if I want to talk to her I'll have to go there."

"Are you?"

"Yeah I have to go Min, I gotta know."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No, you stay here. I'm going to go see if I can find this place."

"Well it shouldn't be too hard, it's not like Hollister is LA."

Johnny got up from the bed and took off his green t-shirt and his shorts. He picked up his suitcase and laid it down on the bed and opened it, he took out a blue polo shirt and a pair of jeans. "Yeah I know, I think I have an idea of where it is." He got dressed and slipped on his boots.

"What are you going to tell Gloria?"

"That I'm going to go exploring." He sat down on the bed and touched his wife's face and gently kissed her. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Min nodded. "You just watch yourself okay?"

"I will." 

Johnny tucked his wallet into his right back pocket and walked out of the bedroom; Min listened as he walked down the stairs and talked to his mother. She heard the front door close and the sound of Gloria's Wrangler starting up. She thought about everything and the newspaper articles stuck out in her mind most of all, the words of her mother-in-law came back to her.

_"But why would they do that if it was just an accident?"_

Min sighed and laid back on the bed, she hoped that Johnny wasn't going to be walking into a bear trap. 

Johnny stepped through the door of the Scallywags Bar located a few miles out of town, it looked like an old red brick house and the windows were painted black. The bar was cloudy, the smoke was thick and it burned his eyes as he took off his sunglasses. The bar was very dark compared to the bright sun light and his eyes adjusted to the difference in a matter of seconds. When he was finally able to see, he looked around at the bar. It was very tiny; there were only a few tables, a juke box in the corner and a ratty, torn up pool table. He saw someone with short red hair, a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans was sitting at the bar. The bartender was washing glasses; he was a big burly man that looked more like a bouncer than a bartender. He had brown hair and a thick brown mustache, he watched as Johnny walked up to the bar. 

"Help you with something?" He walked around the sink and was wiping his hands on his white apron.

"I'm looking for Marty Mathews; I was told I could find her here."

The big man nodded. "You just missed her, she went to go pick up something for me. She'll be back, have a seat."

Johnny straddled a bar stool and moved it closer to the bar. "Thanks."

"You want something to drink?"

"A beer please."

The bartender tapped him a beer and placed it in front of him. "Buck a half please."

Johnny reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a 5, he was given his change and slipped it back into his pocket; he wondered how long he was going to have to wait.

Marty Mathews jumped down from the back of her truck and checked a few things off of her clipboard. She ran her fingers through her short brown hair and got back into her truck; she threw the clipboard on the dash and drove back to the bar.

Johnny was halfway through his beer when the door opened; he turned to see a middle aged woman wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of tan pants.

"Hey Sid, I got the load of booze you-"

Marty spotted Johnny and her eyes grew round, she stopped in mid stride.

"Oh Jesus…Evan."

Her knees felt like rubber and she took a few more shaky steps and saw that it wasn't Evan but she knew who it was. 

Johnny stood up. "You must be Marty Mathews, I'm-"

She walked over to the bar and set her clipboard down. "I know who you are, what are you doing back here?"

He sat back down. "I just came to see my mom."

Marty pulled back one of the stools and sat down beside Johnny, she took a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and lit one. "I don't think so, if you were just here to see her you wouldn't be waiting for me."

Sid set a shot down on the bar and she picked it up and slipped it slowly. "Thanks Sid, your load's out back." The big man got the hint and left to go get it.

"All right, you got me; I'm here for more than just a visit."

Marty took a puff of her cigarette and blew out the smoke. "Let me take a stab in the dark, you're here to dig up a grave."

Johnny nodded. "I talked to Ben Pearson; he said he doesn't remember that day. Are you going to tell me the same lie?"

Marty downed the drink in one swig and reached over the bar and picked up the bottle and poured herself another shot. "No."

"Can you tell me about that day?"

She blew out another stream of smoke. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's something you don't want to hear about."

Johnny watched as she poured herself her third shot. "That's where you're wrong Marty, it is something I want to hear."

Marty took a long drag on her cigarette; she turned and looked at him." Why are you doing this? It's been 15 years, what good is it going to do to rehash it?"

"He was my father Marty and something took him away from me way too soon. I'm not going to stop until I find out what." Johnny started to leave when a hand grabbed his wrist; he looked down and saw Marty's hand. "All right, but not here."

"Where then?"

Marty finished her shot and put out her cigarette. "The cemetery."

"Why did you want to come here?"

The cemetery was deserted as usual except for the two of them, the trees made the temperature seem a lot cooler then it actually was. Marty was standing there looking down at Evan's grave. 

"I wanted to see it, I never have. He's been gone for so long and this is the first time I've seen his grave."

Johnny looked at her, he saw more than just friendship reflecting in her eyes. "You loved him…didn't you?"

Marty looked at him, her face was wet with tears. "Yeah I did but I never did anything to jeopardize what he had with your mom. I knew he only saw me as a friend and that was fine." She wiped her face with her hand. "Let's walk."

A breeze began to blow as the two people walked amongst the grave stones; they got to the other side of the cemetery and spotted a gray stone bench. They sat down and Marty took a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it.

"June 14th, I'll probably always remember that day for the rest of my life. It was really hot, hotter than Satan's tool shed; I was working the 10-6 shift and when I got there at quarter 'til 10 I saw Evan." She looked at Johnny and shook her head. "God you remind me of him, you nearly gave me a heart attack back at the bar. You know you are almost the same age he was when he died, but your hair is shorter than his was and not as dark."

Johnny nodded. "I know, I've seen pictures."

Marty took a puff of her cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly. "Anyways, it was payday and Evan was there already. I figured he had come in early to pick up his check, he went into Doug Roberts' trailer and closed the door."

"Who was Doug Roberts?"

"He was the foreman. He still lives here and has his own construction site."

"How long was he in the trailer?"

"Well I'm not sure. I came back down around 10 30 because I had forgotten to fill my thermos with cold water. Evan was drinking a cup of coffee and he didn't look too happy, he looked mad."

Johnny looked puzzled. "Did you ask him why?"

"No, I wasn't about to ask him why, I only asked him if he got his check and he said yes. I filled my thermos from the big cooler and was screwing the lid back on when I saw Evan was strapping on his safety belt. I asked him what he was doing; I knew he wasn't supposed to work until 1. He said that Roberts let he could come into work early so he could get a little over time. Evan put on his gloves and walked into the elevator; he waved at me and went up."

Johnny could feel his heart beating hard. "When did you see him again?"

Marty's hand was trembling as she took out another cigarette and lit it. "God I need a drink."

"Well we'll go back to the bar after you tell me what happened."

She ran her hand through her hair. "I had decided to go grab a donut before I went back up because I had missed breakfast. I was walking towards the elevator and there was this sound.

"What kind of sound?"

She blew out her smoke and looked at him. "Have you ever stood on the side of the road when a semi drove past? Or beside a train track when the train goes by?"

Johnny nodded, he knew what she meant. "Yeah I have."

"That's what I heard, this whooshing sound like a semi was coming at me. I looked around but didn't see anything, the sound got louder and I remember looking up."

She stopped talking and wiped her face as she got up from the bench, her back turned to Johnny.

He swallowed hard, his throat suddenly getting very dry. "What did you see Marty?"

Marty turned back around, her face was blank. "Your father coming straight at me."

Johnny's face dropped. "What?"

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was like it wasn't real but somehow my brain was aware because all of a sudden I was diving out of the way. I hit the ground hard and the impact kind of woke me up, I thought that maybe I had tripped."

She sat back down on the bench; she covered her face for a moment. Johnny touched her on the shoulder; she uncovered her face and wiped it with her hands. 

"I sat up and there was something next to me, I turned and it was Evan. He was lying there and there was blood coming out of his nose, ears and mouth."

She was staring off into the distance; she was back in that time reliving that terrible day. "He was still alive; I could see his chest moving. I picked up his hand and asked him what happened, he tried to talk but there was this gurgling sound. He squeezed my hand and closed his eyes, his chest wasn't moving anymore."

She covered her face and started crying, Johnny tried to put his arm around her shoulder but she moved away. "I don't know how long I was there by myself; it seemed like an eternity before anyone realized what had happened. Everyone swarmed around me asking me what happened but I didn't know anything, they all kept trying to get me to move away from him but I wouldn't. Finally Roberts came down in the elevator and went into his trailer and came out with a table cloth, he covered Evan with it. Ben came down and he knelt down beside me and told me that I had to let go, the ambulance was coming and I would be in the way. I remember looking at him and nodding. I let go of Evan's hand and Roberts tucked his hand underneath the table cloth and told Ben to take me into his trailer."

Johnny's inside felt as though they had turned to liquid. There were many emotions running through his veins, he wanted to scream, cry, pound something but he refused to give in to the pain that was bubbling deep inside of him. He simply put an invisible mask over his face to hide it all. 

"Did he?"

"For a few minutes until the ambulance got there. I remember coming out of the trailer with Ben. The two attendants pulled back the sheet and started loading him onto the stretcher. I looked down at him and noticed that his safety belt was gone."

"Was it on him when he fell?"

Marty nodded. "I'm positive that it was, it was the first thing I looked for, it was bright yellow you couldn't miss it. Nobody was there; everyone had left but me, Ben, the ambulance guys and Roberts."

"Roberts? Was he alone with my dad before the ambulance got there?"

"I don't know and there was something else that was weird. Roberts came down from the building, he wasn't in his trailer."

"You mentioned that, why is that strange?"

"He was a foreman; he really didn't belong on the building and hadn't been but all of a sudden he came down in the elevator." 

Johnny's face was blank as he walked into the cabin; Min and Gloria were sitting on the couch watching a movie when they saw him.

"You want something to eat Sweetie?"

His face remained passive. "No, no thanks Mom I think I'm going to go lie down, I don't feel good." He walked through the living room and went up the stairs. Min watched him and looked at her mother-in-law.

"He doesn't look good at all; I think I'll go see if he's all right."

Gloria nodded. "I think you better."

Min went up the stairs and down to the end of the hall; she opened the bedroom door and saw he was lying with his back to the door.

"Johnny?"

She walked into the room and closed the door; she slipped off her sandals and climbed into the bed. "Are you okay?" She reached out and stroked his hair.

"Not really."

She moved her hand down and started rubbing his arm. "Want to tell me about it?"

"Not really."

"Johnny, we're in this together remember? I want to know what happened to Evan as badly as you do."

"I found out what happened today."

Min put her hand on his shoulder and rolled him over onto his back. "What?"

He wasn't looking at her; his eyes were looking someplace else. "I said I found out what happened."

"From who?"

"Marty Mathews."

Min swallowed hard, she knew she was walking on dangerous ground. "Are you going to tell me?"

He shook his head slowly. "I don't think I can, not right now anyways."

She nodded. "Do you want to go to sleep?"

"Yeah."

She crawled around him and laid down, she lifted her arm and he laid his head down on her chest, she brought her arm back down and began rubbing his back.

Johnny was standing at a construction site. He looked up and saw a frame for a high rise; it reminded him of a Lego tower only made of I-beams."

"Johnny…up here."

He looked up and saw a man standing about 6 stories up. The man had long black hair that was being blown around by the wind and Johnny recognized who it was. 

"Dad?" Everyone was right; he _was_ the spitting image of his father. "What are you doing up there?"

"You're getting closer but you have to be careful. The truth has been hidden for so long and there are still people out there that want it to stay that way."

"Who? Who wants to keep it hidden?"

Evan walked away from the edge and disappeared. "Dad wait!"

There was a ladder going up, leaning against the frame and Johnny climbed it all the way up. He carefully stepped out onto the beam, it was pretty wide but it still made him feel unsure of its sturdiness. He saw his father standing on the other end. "Dad who wants to keep it hidden? And why?"

Evan only looked at him. "I wish I could tell you Johnny but I can't, it's something you're going to have to find out on your own."

Johnny walked over to him and the two men were face to face, the only difference was Evan had darker hair and skin and was 6 years older than Johnny was now at the time of his death. "I miss you."

"I miss you too."

The two men hugged and Johnny leaned his head against his father's shoulder. "It isn't fair."

"I know but I'm still with you, just like you're with me. We're both a part of each other Johnny and no one can ever take that away from us."

Johnny opened his eyes, he was no longer hugging his father. Evan was standing on the edge again. "Dad what are you doing? Get away from there it's dangerous!"

Evan looked at him. "I have to go now Johnny you mind what I said, be careful."

Johnny shook his head. "No! Don't!"

Evan smiled at his son. "I have to."

He turned his back and Johnny started to run. "Dad!"

The wind was blowing Evan's long hair; he took a deep breath and jumped.

_"Dad!"_

Johnny sat up, he was breathing hard.

"Johnny?"

Min rubbed her eyes, he had woken her up and she touched his shoulder gently. "Are you okay? Was it a bad dream?"

He flopped back down on the bed. "I dreamed about my father."

"Really, what did he say?"

"He told me to be careful."

Min laid down beside him. "I think that's a good idea."

Johnny rolled onto his side and looked at his wife. "I'm ready to tell you what happened."

Min could see the pain in his face; it was just below the surface. "Okay."

He scooted back down and laid his head against her chest. "I spent the past few hours with Marty, we were at the cemetery."

"Why there?"

"It was her idea, she said she wanted to see my Dad's grave."

"Oh."

"She said she was there the day my dad died, she saw everything."

"What happened?"

Johnny took a deep breath. "He was working on the 6th floor and he fell."

"Did she see what made him fall?"

"No, but she was there when he landed, he nearly fell on top of her."

Min gasped and closed her eyes for a moment, his words painted a terrible image.

"He was still alive but couldn't talk; she was there when he died."

"Oh God…" She wrapped her arms around her husband. "I'm so sorry Sweetie."

"That's not all, she said that she saw him put his safety belt on before he went up and it was there when he fell but when the ambulance got there it was gone. Marty also said she saw Doug Roberts the foreman come down in the elevator."

"What's wrong with that?"

"A foreman being up on a building would be like Captain Stanley grabbing a hose and fighting a fire."

"So he would have no reason to be up there?"

"Right, Marty said that Ben took her into Roberts' trailer after the accident and when they came back out everyone was gone but Roberts."

"You think he took Evan's safety belt?"

"Maybe."

"Is that all?"

"No, Marty also told me that in the report Roberts said that my father fell because he wasn't wearing his safety belt."

"Did Marty tell them that was wrong?"

"She did but they told her if he had been wearing one, where did it go?"

"They didn't believe her?"

"No."

"Do you?"

Johnny lifted his head and looked at her. "Yes."

Min nodded. "So do I Johnny and there is something else I believe."

"What's that?"

"I think your father's death wasn't accidental, I think he was murdered."

Those were the words that broke the mask that Johnny was wearing. He had managed to keep his feelings hidden even when Marty was telling him what she had seen that long ago summer day. The realization of it all finally released all that bottled up pain. Min saw his mask shatter like glass, his brown eyes grew wet and he got off of the bed. Johnny tried to run from the breaking dam but didn't quite make it; he fell to the floor and started to sob. Min was on the floor in an instant; she put her arms around his shaking shoulders and helped get him to his feet. They both laid down on the bed and she drew him to her, he was crying like a child. She realized that he was a child, a thirteen year old one that was mourning for his father. She started to cry as well as she stroked the head that was buried in her shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her and started to wail. Min closed here eyes against the sound; it was common for an Indian to wail, it was the most horrible noise of pain and terrible grief. It made her heart break to hear him do that and she held him tighter against her. "Shhh….its all right….its all right…"

Min was listening to his deep breathing; he had stopped shaking and had settled down. She wasn't even sure how long they had been there.

"Min?"  She started at the sound of his voice; she thought he had fallen asleep.

"Yes?"

He lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes were sorrowful and full of pain he also looked completely drained. "Why do you think he was killed?"

She had been thinking about it as she soothed and comforted her husband. "I think that he either saw or found out something that he wasn't supposed to."

Johnny sighed, his tears threatened again. "I think you're right but what did he find out?"

"I don't know but whatever it was cost him his life, I want you to promise me something."

"All right, what?"

"Promise me that it won't cost you yours."

Johnny looked at her and nodded slowly. "I promise."

By the time Min came down the stairs, it was night, the cabin was dark and Gloria had turned in for the night. Min walked quietly into the kitchen and turned on the light. She opened the fridge and got out the milk and the jelly and set them down on the counter. She went to the pantry and took out the jar of peanut butter and the bread.

"Is he all right?"

Min whipped around and saw Gloria standing in the kitchen doorway; she had on a white robe.

"Not really." Min went back to making two sandwiches, one for her and one for Johnny.

"He found out what happened didn't he?"

The young woman nodded, her back still turned. "Yeah he did."

"Are you going to tell me or should I wait until he does?"

"I think you should wait, he's not done yet and I know he'll tell you everything when he's ready to."

Gloria nodded. "I'm going to go back to my room now Min, kiss my son good night for me."

Min turned back around and smiled. "I will…he needs a lot of that right now."

"Good night Min."

"Good night Gloria."

She finished the sandwiches and poured two glasses of milk; she spotted a tray on top of the fridge and loaded everything on it.

Johnny was sitting on the bed, a blanket was wrapped around his shoulders. Hhe had taken off his clothes and had changed into his pajama bottoms. He heard the sound of someone walking, the door opened and Min came in carrying a tray with a plate and two glasses of milk.

"I hope you don't mind peanut butter." She set the tray down on the nightstand and Johnny opened up his blanket. "Its fine, come here."

Min sat down on his lap and he wrapped it back around both of them, she leaned her head against his chest. "Are you feeling better?"

"A little." 

Min looked up at him, he did look a little less pained but his voice was softer than normal. "I think you should eat something."

"I will but not right now." 

Johnny leaned in close and kissed her deeply. Min returned it and put her hand on the back of his head, it moved down his face and neck, coming to rest on his chest. Their lips parted and she opened her eyes, she knew what that kiss had meant but she also knew that he wasn't looking for pleasure, he was looking for comfort. Min put her other hand on his chest as well and gently glided them up to his neck and back down; he closed his eyes and sighed.  That made her smile a little as she gently pushed him back against the headboard and started to kiss his neck very lightly. Johnny touched her head and she kissed up to his jaw. She kissed his mouth hard and he opened his eyes and looked at her. Min put her arms around her husband's neck and kissed him again. Johnny wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear. "Make love to me Min."

She let go of his neck and put both hands on his shoulders, she moved him away from the headboard and laid him down on the bed.

"I think someone pushed him off the building."

Johnny and Min were both still wrapped in the blanket. They were both lying down on the bed and had eaten their sandwiches lying quietly in the dark. Johnny was flat on his back and Min was curled up beside him. 

Johnny shook his head. "No, not pushed, his safety belt wouldn't let him simply fall."

"It would if it wasn't attached."

"My father wouldn't have done that, he knew better. Be up on those skinny I-beams without an attached safety belt? No way. I keep thinking about what Marty said, she swore it was on him when he fell. Someone must have done something to his belt."

Min thought about what a safety belt looked like. "It has a big hook on it right?"

"Right, that's what you attach through the beam or wherever."

"Is it attached directly to the belt?"

"No there is a strap with a link on it in between the hook and the belt."

"A link, like on a chain?"

"Right."

"What if someone cut that strap, wouldn't _that_ be a good reason to take the belt off of him? If someone were to look at the belt and see that the strap and the hook weren't there, wouldn't that look suspicious?"

Johnny sighed. "Yeah it would, and I bet you anything that Roberts had something to do with it. I mean why would he be on that building all of a sudden? Especially if he hadn't been on it for a while."

"Are you going to go talk to him?

"Marty told him the name of the construction company he owns; I think I should pay him a little visit."

Doug Roberts was sitting behind his huge oak desk doing paper work, his phone buzzed and he sighed as he hit the button.

"What is it Nellie? I thought I made it clear to you that I had a lot of work to do today."

"I'm sorry Mr. Roberts but there is a John Gage to see you."

Roberts was filling out a form with a pen and when he heard the name the writing came to an abrupt stop. "What name was that?"

"Gage, John Gage."

Roberts mouth and throat went dry, he licked his lips and cleared his throat. "Send him in."

The door opened and Roberts' breath stopped in his chest as he watched Johnny walk into his office, he could see Evan so clearly that it frightened him and it was not only the young man that he could see scowling, he could see Evan scowling as well behind his eyes. 

"Can I help you with something?"

Johnny took a good look at the portly, balding man with little round glasses behind the big wooden desk; he was wearing a white short sleeved shirt. "Do you know who I am?"

The older man nodded slowly. "Yeah." He smiled widely, trying to hide the surprise and the tiny bit of fear that was on his face. "You're Evan's boy."

"That's right I am, is it all right if I ask you a few questions?"

Roberts adjusted himself in his chair and pointed to the one at on the other side of his desk. "Sure, why don't you have a seat?"

Johnny sat down in the chair; he leaned forward a bit, his brown sport coat was caught under his behind a little. He wondered if he was a bit overdressed, wearing blue jeans and a white button down shirt under his sport coat. He was burning hot but the coolness of Roberts' office made him feel a little more at ease. "Thanks."

"I hear that you're a fireman over in LA, pretty exciting compared to Hollister."

"Yeah, it has its moments."

Roberts felt a little more relaxed; he put his pen down and leaned back in his chair. "So what did you want to ask me?"

Johnny saw his chance and he grabbed it. "I came to ask you about my father's death."

The stout man nodded a little. "I remember it, a real shame too; he was a good worker, a nice guy."

Johnny was watching him carefully. "I heard from someone that your report said that my father wasn't wearing his safety belt and that's how he fell off the building."

Roberts nodded. "Yeah that's right John, he wasn't wearing his belt; it must have slipped his mind to put it on."

"I don't think so, he knew better than that. I heard that his belt was there one minute then gone the next." 

Roberts started fidgeting in his chair. "No, when the ambulance got there he wasn't wearing it, I remember that."

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "That's not what I heard, I heard that he did put it on and it was there when he fell."

Roberts shook his head and creased his brow. "Where did you hear that?"

"Marty Mathews."

The name rang a huge bell in his head but he tried not to let it show. "Marty huh, she was pretty upset that day John she could have been mistaken."

"She wasn't upset when she watched him strap it on."

The older man was getting a little flustered. "So what are you saying? That someone took it off of him? Is that what you are suggesting?"

Johnny couldn't help but smile. "I didn't say that Mr. Roberts you did."

Roberts eyes were suddenly blazing behind his flimsy looking glasses. "I think its time for you to go now John I'm much too busy to waste time talking about stuff that happened a long time ago."

Johnny stood up; he had stirred up enough trouble for one day. "Well thank you for your time Mr. Roberts." His eyes were full of amusement but his face remained stoic. "It's been educational." He stuck his hand out and Roberts reluctantly shook it. 

"Have a nice trip back to LA."

Johnny nodded. "Oh I'm not quite ready to go back to LA just yet, have a nice day."

Roberts watched as Johnny left the room, he waited until he heard the outer door close. The minute he heard that sound he picked up the phone and started dialing.

Johnny and Min were sitting at the kitchen table playing poker. Gloria had gone out; she had a few errands to run and had to buy groceries.

"You should have seen his face Min; he looked like he had seen a ghost!"

Min looked at her hand, she had three aces. "I'll bet a nickel. He probably thought Evan had come back for his head."

Johnny took a quick glance at his card. "All right I'll see your nickel and raise you a nickel, I call." He set his cards down and picked up the deck. "How many cards do you want? You should have seen how antsy he got when I told him what Marty said about the belt disappearing."

Min set two cards down on the table. "Two please, what did he say?"

He dealt her a couple of cards and took two for himself. "He said that he wasn't wearing it when the ambulance got there."

Min looked at her cards; she got a pair of tens and now had a full house. "Okay, I'll bet a dollar." She took a dollar bill and moved it to the middle of the table.

Johnny looked at her; she had to have been bluffing. "I'll see your dollar and raise you 5."

She placed a 5 on the pile. "Okay I call." She set her cards down on the table. "Aces high full house."

Johnny frowned and threw his cards down. "I thought you were bluffing!"

She gathered up her money and tucked it into her pocket. "Nope, I wasn't." She reached across the table and looked at his cards; he had a pair of sixes. "You bet 5 dollars on a pair of sixes?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I thought I could bluff you."

Min shook her head. "I should have bet clothing! So you want to play another hand?"

"No, if we keep this up I'll be broke before its time to go home."

The phone rang and Johnny got up from the table and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Looking for clues about Daddy?" The voice on the other end of the line was flat and low.

Johnny looked over at Min, she looked puzzled. "Yeah I am who is this?"

"That's not important but what I have for you is, meet me at the construction site just outside of town in an hour."

"I'll be there."

The line disconnected and Johnny hung up the phone.

"Who was that?"

"I don't know but whoever it was says they have information that I need about my dad." 

Min got a feeling in the pit of her stomach and shook her head. "I don't know Johnny I don't think you should go."

He sat back down at the table and gathered up the cards. "I have too, what if this person really does have information that I need?"

"And what if this is a set up? I'm going with you."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am! I'm not about to let you go alone."

Min had a stern look on her face, there was no way Johnny was going to win this argument and he sighed. "All right you can go but you're staying in the car."

"Fine, where are we going?"

"The voice said to go to the construction site just outside of town."

Gloria had returned within the hour and the couple told her they were going to go out for a drive. She eyed them both suspiciously but agreed to lend them her Wrangler. They drove a few miles out of Hollister's main square to an old construction site. There was rusting equipment and the frame for a building that was rather weathered looking and sun beaten.

"Nice place, very charming." 

Johnny parked the Wrangler and turned off the engine but he kept the headlights on so he could see; it was dusk and the red-orange glow was quickly disappearing. "Just stay here okay?"

"Okay." Min looked around; she didn't see anyone and she hoped that this wasn't someone's idea of a mean joke. He got out of the vehicle and walked around it, the headlights were focused on an old cement mixer and he stepped into the light. The wind started to blow, it howled as it blew through the old equipment giving that place a strong eerie feeling. Johnny looked down at the ground he had kicked something and he saw a bunch of rivets scattered all over the ground. He moved one of them aside with the toe of his boot when he heard something and lifted his head. There was a dump truck straight ahead and a little to the right of where he was standing, he started to walk towards it. Min watched him get farther and farther away from the light and she shook her head. 

"Johnny…I don't like this."

He was over by the dump truck looking around there wasn't anything there so he turned around and started to walk away. The headlights suddenly came on Johnny turned around, the light was right in his face and he shielded his eyes. The driver side door opened and someone stepped out of the truck, the light made it impossible for him to see who it was he only saw a dark form. 

"Who are you?"

"A friend."

"If you are a friend why are we meeting here in the dark?"

"I'm a friend that wants to stay in the dark, if you get my meaning."

"I get it."

Johnny looked around, he expected to see a bunch of guys come out the dark to either beat him up or kill him.

"Relax Johnny; I'm no threat to you. I know you've talked to a couple of people already."

"Yeah, Marty Mathews and Doug Roberts."

The man that was currently blinding Johnny with headlights chuckled at the mention of the foreman's name. "Roberts huh, I bet he was really helpful."

"No as a matter of fact he wasn't."

"I'm not the least bit surprised."

"Marty told me the safety belt was there on my dad and then disappeared and Roberts told me to ignore Marty and that the safety belt wasn't on him."

"It was there, I saw Evan put it on."

"So you were there that day?"

The man sighed. "Yeah I was there."

"What else did you see?"

"A lot more than Marty did."

This news made Johnny's heart start to beat hard, maybe now he was going to get some answers. "Can you tell me?"

"I'm afraid not."

Johnny turned and walked away a little. Min watched as he came briefly into her view and then walked back. "Then why did you drag me out here?" He was frustrated, it seemed that everywhere he turned there was another door slammed in his face and he was getting tired of it.

"You don't seem to realize that there is a lot at stake here Johnny, money, power and lives. I don't mean just Evan's but I mean yours, mine, your wife's and your mother's."

Johnny's jaw clenched the thought of Min and his mother being in danger angered him instantly. "They've got nothing to do with this!"

"But they do, there are some people in this town that don't want the truth to come out, it could cause a lot of problems and a big scandal."

Johnny sighed and covered his face with his hands briefly. "I just want to know what happened and why, is that too much to ask?"

"Yes it is."

"Why?"

"Because it's dangerous look what happened to Evan, he was killed because of what he knew. I want you to know that I hope you do find out the truth, you'll never have peace until you do. But allow me to give you some advice. When the pieces finally do come together, you do what you feel is right no matter what. I can't tell you what happened but I can steer you in the right direction."

Johnny uncovered his face and nodded. "All right, where do I start?"

The man got something out of the dump truck and threw it at Johnny's feet, it was a set of rolled up blueprints. "This is probably a lot more than I should be telling you but your father was a good guy, he always treated me with respect."

Johnny picked up the plans and unrolled them. He couldn't see much, the light was too bright so he rolled them back up.

"Good Luck to you Johnny."

The headlights went out and the man was gone.

Min was chewing on her fingernails a tire iron clutched in her hand, she was afraid that this meeting was some sort of trap that was going to get Johnny beaten up. She watched as he came back into the headlights of the Wrangler and breathed a sigh of relief. He was holding something in his hand and when he opened the driver's side door and got in she saw that it was something rolled up.

"What's that?"

"I don't know blueprints to something." He closed and locked his door and reached up and turned on the overhead light, he unrolled the prints and looked at them. They were the plans to what looked like some sort of manufacturing plant. "It says here Texcorp Industries, Why does that sound familiar?"

Min let the name roll around in her head for a moment. "I've heard of that company, they're the biggest manufacturer of microchips in the world."

"Microchips? Here?"

Min looked at the blueprints and whistled. "Wow that's a big facility, must have taken forever to build that sucker looks like it takes up a lot of land."

Johnny nodded. "Yeah it does and according to this, it's only about 20 miles away from Hollister." He creased his brow. "I don't get it…why did that guy give these to me? What does this have to do with Dad's death?"

"I wish I knew Honey but this is the first clue we've gotten, it has to mean something."

Johnny rolled the plans back up and handed them to Min; he started the Wrangler and turned it around. "Yeah but what?"

"Well I suggest we take a trip to the County Courthouse first thing tomorrow and see what else we can dig up about this place, maybe we can find another clue."

Johnny was lying in bed, his arms tucked under his head. He was thinking about everything he had turned up and the blueprints. He turned and looked at his wife. Min was sound asleep, her face calm and peaceful and he reached over and touched her cheek. He smiled at little, she had been there for him when he needed it most and that was something that meant a lot to him. He turned over and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"I love you Min."

She stirred a little and turned over; when she felt that he wasn't laying down she opened her eyes and looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just can't sleep."

Min yawned a little and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

Johnny looked at his watch. "2 20."

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not long, I was just thinking about the blueprints, that has to be what Dad knew about. He knew that place was going to be built."

"Yeah but why would that get him killed?"

Johnny sighed. "I don't know but something about that place is the key."

"Well we're going to be finding out soon, why don't we try and get some sleep?"

"Yeah, good idea."

Min turned her back to her husband and he curled up next to her, he put his arm around her waist and sighed.

Gloria had gotten up at 7 30 am and started breakfast. By the time the couple came down the stairs at 8 there was a huge stack of pancakes and sausage waiting for them.

"Morning!"

Min was wearing a little white sundress with tiny blue flowers, while her husband was going a little more casual with a white polo shirt and a pair of black cotton shorts.

"Morning."

"Morning Mom."

"Come on dig into those cakes before they get cold." She turned off the stove and sat down at the table she picked up the plate and started piling up hotcakes onto her son's plate.

"Whoa Mom wait a second! Not too many now or my uniform won't fit me anymore."

"Nonsense you're skinny as a rail, you could probably eat this whole stack and not gain a pound."

Min accepted a few pancakes and put a couple pieces of sausage on her plate. "Tell me about it! He _never_ gains weight."

Johnny looked at his mother and winked. "That's because I'm constantly being chased by women."

There was a loud clang noise from Min's fork hitting her plate, she looked at her husband. "Oh really? And how come you never mentioned this to me before?"

Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "Well… I just _hate_ to brag."

Min raised an eyebrow." Uh huh, I just bet you do."

Gloria shook her head, he was a big tease just like Evan was. "Johnny you stop teasing your wife this minute."

"Oh that's okay Gloria; he'll just have to be punished later."

Johnny grinned widely. "Promise?"

Min nodded her head. "Oh you can count on it."

A young woman was leaning over the counter looking at the plans that Johnny had, she scanned them carefully.

"Texcorp, ah yes I do recall there being something about this place give me one moment and I'll be back."

The young woman wearing a navy blue business suit disappeared through a door to a room that was filled top to bottom with filing cabinets. 

Min sighed. "I certainly hope she can help us, she is the third person to look at these blueprints."

Johnny nodded. "I know talk about red tape, all we want is some information not their inner most secrets."

She returned with a file and opened it. "According to our records, they are originally from New Jersey and have been in business for over 30 years." She set the folder down and there was something folded in the middle of the papers, it looked like another set of blueprints.

"Ma'am may I take a look at these please?"

"Sure, but they are probably just another copy of the ones you possess already." She handed him the square and Johnny unfolded it and spread it out. He looked over them and shook his head; the two prints did not match.

"These aren't the same."

The young woman creased her brow. "I beg your pardon?"

"These plans aren't the same as the ones I have, here see for yourself."

Johnny turned them around so she could see and moved them so that they were side by side. She looked over them and shook her head. "They aren't…the area that this place is supposed to have been built is different." There was a large map of Hollister and she turned her back to them.

"According to the blueprints we have on file the facility was going to be put here." She pointed to an area that was about 30 miles south. "But they ones you have show it to be here." She pointed to an area that was 20 miles north of town.  "How strange."

Johnny saw where she was pointing to; he came around the counter for a closer look at the map. "Here right?"

She nodded. "Right."

The map was pretty detailed, the area she pointed to was in a wooded area and something about its location did not set well with him but he couldn't quite figure out why. Min saw the way her husband was studying the map. "Honey what is it?"

"I don't know something about that location." He looked over the map carefully and something that was a little further to the west caught his attention. "Ma'am, do you have the permits and stuff for this building on file?"

"We should, they would have had to have filed the proper paper work in order to start building."

"Can you show them to us?"

"Of course, be right back."

The young woman disappeared again and Min shook her head. "Did you find something?"

"Maybe…but I don't know just yet."

She came back empty handed and her face reflected puzzlement. "I couldn't find the folder; it isn't there, which is not possible."

Johnny was still staring at the map. "Oh, I think it's possible."

"No! Without those papers they would not get the city council's approval to start building or any of the permits, no papers, no multi-million dollar fancy company."

He turned around and looked at her, something went off in his head and he turned back around slowly and looked at the map. "Ma'am, I think you shouldn't tell anyone that we were here today or that you know about these phony blueprints or anything else, okay?"

"But why? We have to tell someone about this. This is all wrong, that place is totally illegal and shouldn't even be there!"

"I know but for now we weren't here and you don't know anything about this."

She was confused and didn't quite understand but his low tone frightened her a little. "All right, I'll go put all this back and pretend I never saw it." She gathered everything up and went back into the filing room.

"Johnny was it? Why did you tell her that?"

He turned back around and faced his wife, he looked a little fearful. "I think I know pretty much everything now Min and why Dad was killed."

Min shook her head slowly. "How? From what?"

"The blue prints and this map."

"What is so special about that map?"

His hand was shaking slightly as took her by the hand and led her around the counter. She stood beside him and he pointed to something on the map. 

"That blueprint on file with the city said the facility was going to be built here but our blueprints show that it's actually built here, 20 miles north of town."

"Right, so what does that have to do with anything?"

"Watch." Johnny moved his finger to the west and what it stopped on made his wife gasp and her eyes grew round.

"Oh my God."

His finger was just below the words... **IZHAPE SHOSHONE RESERVATION**

Min and Johnny were driving back to the cabin both of them were silent, what they had uncovered was huge and it all made perfect sense now.

"Johnny are we in trouble?"

"I'm not sure yet Min but we might be."

"How high do you think this goes?"

"Pretty high, it would have to." Johnny sighed and wiped his face. 

"Do you think he found out the same way we did?"

"I'm not sure, he probably found out in a much more casual way." Something suddenly clicked in his head and he pulled the Wrangler over.

"What's wrong? Why did you pull over?" 

"Do you remember the name of the construction company that was listed on those prints?"

"The ones we have or the ones that the city has."

"Either."

Min thought about it for a moment. "I think it said Jacobson Construction." She knew that name, but from where? "Wait a second; your mom mentioned that name."

"She did, from what?"

"Remember I told you she mentioned Ben and Marty?"

Johnny nodded. "Yeah but you said she casually mentioned them."

Min sighed. "That wasn't exactly true Johnny, I lied."

"Why?"

"Because while you were upstairs unpacking we were making sandwiches and she asked me to tell her the real reason we were here besides a visit. She knew that something else was up so I told her the truth."

"How did she take it?"

"She said she knew that one day you would want to know, so I asked her about that day and she told me that Howard Jacobson came to see her and not only offered to pay for the funeral but gave her a huge insurance settlement for Evan's death. All she had to do was stop asking questions about what happened to him."

Johnny closed his eyes. "So that's why she didn't have to go get a job after Dad died."

Min nodded. "Don't be angry with her Johnny, she didn't want to do it but she had your well being to think about too, without that money you both would have ended up homeless."

He opened his eyes and turned to look at his wife. "I'm not mad at her Min; I just wish she would have told me."

"She probably thought it would be best that you didn't know."

Johnny sighed, he was thinking about something. "So Jacobson Construction is not only who my dad worked for but they built that facility too."

"Right, Texcorp, the biggest manufacturer.." Something occurred to Min and she closed her eyes for a moment. "Oh God, that's what this is all about."

Her husband turned to look at her. "What?"

"Money, Texcorp must be worth millions, can you imagine what a small town like Hollister would do to get a company that valuable to build a plant?"

Johnny thought about it and his head nodded slowly. "They would kill for it."

"And they did, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know."

He turned the wheel and got the Wrangler back on the road all sorts of things were running through his mind; he was scared and angry at the same time. He thought about his meeting in the old construction site and what his anonymous friend had told him. That information had killed his father, what was going happen to him and his wife now that they knew?

The answer came out of a side road and pulled up behind the couple, it was a huge black stretch limousine. Johnny caught a glimpse of it in his rear view mirror and it started to flash its lights.

"That's strange."

He broke the silence and Min turned to look at him. "What is?"

"There's a limo behind us and it keeps flashing its lights."

Min turned around and looked at the big black car. There was no one else around; the road was totally deserted except for them.  "Well if he's in such a big hurry then let him go by."

Johnny pulled the Wrangler over and the limousine went zipping by. "You're welcome Speedy."

The road started to slant upwards as they climbed up a big hill, they reached the top and as they started down it they saw the limousine was there waiting for them. It was across both lanes and there was a man standing there in front of it. Johnny gasped, the height of the hill had sped up the Wrangler and he hit the brakes trying to stop it before they collided with the limo. The couple was thrown forward, Johnny's chest hit the steering wheel a little but his seatbelt prevented his weight from crushing him against it. Min felt the seatbelt cut into her neck and she put her arms out to stop herself from slamming against the dashboard. The Wrangler finally stopped a few feet away from the limousine, the rear end of it went up a bit and the whole vehicle shook. The couple looked up slowly; they were both out of breath and shaking from the sudden rush of adrenaline that was pumping through their hearts. Johnny looked up at the man standing there and the first thing he wanted to do was pound him one, he took off his seat belt and got out.

"What's the big idea? We almost hit you!"

The man was dressed in a chauffeur's uniform complete with hat and gloves. "I have been instructed to bring you and the young lady back with me."

Johnny swallowed hard. "Back where?"

The limo doors opened and out stepped three very large men, all dressed in black suits and ties. "It would be best if you were to accompany us." 

One of the large men walked over to the Wrangler and opened the passenger door, he stuck his hand out. "Will you come with me Miss?"

Johnny looked back and saw the terrified look on his wife's face; he realized this situation could easily go from bad to worse if they didn't cooperate. 

"It's all right Min; these gentlemen want us to go with them."

Min reached down between her feet, her purse was there and she opened it and took something out of it. She slipped into the left pocket of her sundress; she hoped that the man didn't see what she had done as she placed her hand in the outstretched one. The large man helped her out of the Wrangler; he escorted her to the limo and opened the door.  She stepped inside and the large man turned his attention to Johnny. 

"Would you step into the limousine? Don't worry about your vehicle one of my associates will see to it."

Johnny closed the driver's side door and got into the limousine.

Min watched as the men all got back into the limo, she swallowed hard. "Johnny."

"I know." He reached down between them and picked up her hand. "We're going to be just fine."

He wasn't sure if he was saying it for her benefit or for his.

Min was holding Johnny's hand, she wasn't sure where they were going the limo's windows were tinted very dark and it was hard to tell but she thought she saw a building pass by. The limousine slowed down and they heard the sound of a metal door sliding open. Min leaned closer to the window and watched as the limo went into something that looked like a warehouse. She turned and wanted to talk to her husband but they weren't exactly alone and the three gorillas were staring at them. She sat back in her seat and squeezed her husband's hand, she was getting very scared but she tried not to let it show.

The limousine came to a stop and the three stooges got out leaving Min and Johnny alone for a moment. They took this opportunity and hugged each other.

"Whatever happens I love you." Johnny said as he hugged his wife hard. 

"I love you too." She returned his embrace and kissed him.

The door on Min's side was still open and a meaty hand suddenly appeared. The couple let go of each other and Min took the hand that was offered, she was helped out and Johnny followed. They were in a warehouse; it was totally empty except for a pair of chairs. The chauffeur was standing in front of the chairs and he motioned to them.

"Would you both kindly take a seat, someone will be with you in a moment."

The couple sat down and the chauffeur turned around and walked over to a door, he knocked on it and stepped back. The door opened and a young woman that looked to be in her late 20s came out. She was dressed in a dark grey suit and pants; her hair was dark and tied up neatly in a bun. She was wearing expensive jewelry and her face was made up, she spotted Min and Johnny and smiled widely.

"Well done Mr. Darby."

"Thank you Ma'am."

"Where is their vehicle?"

"It should be here at any moment."

"Very good."

The click clack of her high heels echoed through the empty warehouse as she walked over to Min and Johnny, she stopped a few feet from them. 

"Good Afternoon." She looked at Johnny and smiled widely. "Johnny Gage, at last we meet. You certainly have caused quite a bit of trouble, my friend Mr. Roberts was absolutely beside himself after you visited him."

Johnny looked at the young woman. "Who are you?"

"Oh! I'm completely forgetting my manners; my name is Catherine Stewart, CEO of Texcorp Industries." She turned and looked at the young woman sitting beside Johnny. "Am I correct to assume that this is Mrs. Gage?"

Min nodded her head. "Your assumption is correct."

"Oh good." Catherine snapped her fingers and Darby took a silver cigarette case out of his pocket and opened it, he took out a cigarette and handed it to her. She put it between her lips and Darby took out a lighter and lit it. She exhaled the smoke and sighed as she did so, she wanted to sit down but there was no place for her. She thought briefly about sitting on Johnny's lap but she was quite sure Min would strongly disapprove.

"Darby, can you bring me a chair please?"

"Of course."

The chauffeur disappeared and reappeared with a rolling chair, he set it down in front of the couple and the young woman sat down and crossed her legs. "There, that's much better now where were we? Ah yes, I told you that I own Texcorp Industries."

"Is that where we are?" 

Catherine looked at Johnny and her eyebrows went up. "Why yes that it is, this is the storage facility for my plant, but as you can see we have nothing stored at the moment. You're very smart Johnny, just like your father was and just like Evan too smart for your own good."

"Is that why you brought us here?"

She blew out her smoke and nodded her head. "You're here to tell me exactly how much you know about this place."

"Do you want to know everything or just the fact you stole it from the Shoshones?"

Catherine looked stunned and she started to clap her hands. "My goodness you _are_ very clever! I am impressed!" She took another drag on her cigarette and the smoke came out of her mouth as she spoke. "I suppose I do owe you the whole story after all you did come all the way from LA and you have been digging hard to find it. There is just so much I hardly know where to start."

"The beginning would be nice." Johnny turned and looked at his wife and he tried very hard not to laugh. Catherine narrowed her eyes at the young woman.

"Thanks so much for the tip. I'll start off with a little information about Texcorp, we've been in business for over 30 years, my father started this company and when he died it was passed on to me. He was still CEO 15 years ago when he came up with this brilliant idea to build a plant in every state. Things were going along pretty good until he came to Wyoming. He tried to get a major city to let him build a plant, Cheyenne, Laramie, Jackson Hole, they all turned him down. They told him that a big plant like that would interfere with their precious tourist dollars; it would make the landscape less appealing. Anyways, it was by pure dumb luck he ended up coming to Hollister. This little one horse town was not too close to a major city and too small to have to rely on tourist dollars, it was perfect. He started talks with the city to build here but there was a problem, none of the city's land holdings were good enough. They were either too small, no access to a main road, too much terrain, you name it. Finally, an associate of my father's dug up an old deed to a large chunk of land that was just the right size and everything. There was just one little hitch, it didn't belong to the city it belonged to the Shoshone tribe." 

Catherine dropped her cigarette and stepped on it. "It was only a temporary set back, since we had the deed and they didn't, it seemed that this little piece of land had been totally forgotten about, so with a little creative document making that land became the property of the city. The mayor, the city council, they all knew who this land really belonged to but they didn't care, they were seeing all those dollar signs and they welcomed them with open arms. Doug Roberts was foreman of the project and the city gave him every permit under the sun but to make it all look legit we gave a file to the county courthouse and put in a fake set of blueprints just in case anyone got curious but no one did. 

The land had just barely started to be cleared when we got another fly in the ointment, Evan Gage. We had drawn up a set of blueprints for the plant and Doug Roberts, being not too bright at times, left them in plain sight, Evan went into his office to get his paycheck and saw them lying there on his desk. He knew exactly where that plant was going to be and on whose land and when Roberts came back into his trailer, he started raising all kinds of holy hell! How that was wrong and that we had stolen the land and on and on! Roberts finally told him to shut up and to mind his own business and to get to work. Evan left his office and that's when my father got the phone call, Roberts told him how Evan had seen the plans and that he could possibly ruin everything. That's when my father came up with an idea of how to keep him quiet."

Evan was still fuming over his fight with Roberts. It wasn't right, that land belonged to the Shoshones and they were going to be cheated out of millions of dollars. He sighed as he got his safety belt out of his truck and strapped it around his waist; he saw his friend Marty putting water in her thermos.

"Hey Evan, did you get your paycheck?"

"Yeah, I got it, I'll see you later." He walked over to the elevator and got in, Marty waved at him and he waved back as the elevator took him up to the 6th floor. He walked out of it to the middle of the beam, it was windy at that height and the wind was playing with his long hair. He craned his neck and looked down; it was a most unpleasant drop straight down to the ground. He turned away and crouched down, he took the hook off of his belt and clipped it around one of the holes in the beam and took out his measuring tape.

Roberts was watching from the window in his trailer, he looked around and didn't see anyone; he came out of his trailer wearing his safety belt. He had taken off the normal strap and had attached a rope to the hook, he put on his hard hat and climbed into the side elevator and went up.  The elevator stopped on the 6th floor and he stepped out onto the beam. He took the hook off of his belt and attached it to the frame of the elevator; the rope would give him a good twenty feet of mobility and freedom. He snuck up behind the unsuspecting man quietly and took out his utility knife.

Evan was measuring a new spot to put a beam vertically when he felt an arm go around his neck. He dropped his tape measure and grabbed at the arm that was cutting off his air, it was pressing into his windpipe and he couldn't make a sound.

"You think you are _so_ smart, you should have left well enough alone and now it's going to cost you everything!" Evan recognized the voice instantly, he tried with all his might to break free but his crouching position versus Roberts' bent over one, gave the foreman the advantage.

"Say goodbye Evan." 

Evan was attached to the beam by the steel hook and thick yellow strap, Roberts showed him the utility knife before he brought it down to the strap and started to slice through it. The blade was sharp and in a matter of seconds it was severed. Roberts stood up and took the struggling man with him; he took his arm away from Evan's neck and shoved him. The foreman watched with delight as Evan fell, he heard the unmistakable thud of a body hitting the ground, reminding him of a bag of falling concrete. The strap and hook were still attached to the beam, he crouched down and unhooked them and put them into his pocket as he walked back to the elevator.

Catherine had another cigarette and she shook her head. "It would have been perfect except for Marty Mathews. She was there when Evan landed and she saw that he was wearing his safety belt, I guess she really was upset because she didn't seem to notice that the hook was missing. Roberts covered him up and when Ben Pearson finally got Marty into his trailer he took off Evan's belt and hid it, after all Marty was distraught, who would believe her? Evan Gage died because he wasn't wearing his safety belt, it was that simple."

Johnny turned his head away from the horrible woman and closed his eyes, he pictured everything she had said in his head and it was even uglier than what Marty had told him. He swallowed hard before he turned back. "But it wasn't that simple, someone else besides Marty saw what Roberts did."

Catherine shook her head. "No one saw, everyone else was higher up." Something else occurred to her and she creased her brow in thought. "Hold on a moment, exactly how _is_ it that you were able to find all of this out? I mean about the land."

The sliding metal door opened and in drove the Wrangler, it was parked next to the limo and one of the big burly guys came out of the driver's side door, he had the rolled up blueprints in his big hand. He walked over to Catherine and handed them to her.

"Thank you Wellins, perfect timing."

She stuck the cigarette in her mouth and unrolled them. "Well I'll be damned! I thought Roberts burned these when the construction was over." She moved them aside and looked at Johnny. "And where exactly did you get these from?"

Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "A friend." He couldn't help but grin. "I told you that someone else saw Roberts that day."

Catherine rolled up the plans and dropped them on the ground. "It doesn't matter, if it really _was_ someone that was important they would have just as much to lose as we would so they would have no choice but to keep quiet."

Johnny's smile was gone, she was right. "So whose idea was it to pay for the funeral and give my mom money?"

She rolled her eyes in disgust and shook her head. "Jacobson…he felt so incredibly guilty about one of his workers dying, it was pathetic and at the same time he was scared to death that your mother was going to cause problems." She started laughing. "He thought for sure that he was going to get the blame. He didn't even have a clue as to what really happened or what we were up to."

Johnny shook his head; he couldn't believe this woman. "So what happens now?"

The woman stopped laughing and her face grew serious. "Well, that's all up to you Johnny I've told you everything that happened to your father what you do with it is entirely up to you."

Min and Johnny turned and looked at each other, was she serious?

"So we are perfectly free to just get up and walk out of here?"

Catherine nodded. "Yes, we aren't holding you here against your will are we boys?"

The group of large men all shook their heads. "No Ma'am, they can leave anytime they want to."

The couple stood up slowly and walked over to the Wrangler; Johnny got into it and started it up. Min got into the passenger side and put on her seat belt. 

"Come on Johnny, I think we should go while we can before Catherine changes her mind."

"I know." He put the Wrangler in reverse and started to back it up slowly. As soon as it got close to the door it slid open slowly and he backed all the way out of the warehouse. He stepped on the brakes and put in drive, the door started to close again and the last thing Min and Johnny saw was Catherine smiling as the door slid shut.

"I can't believe we got out of that unscathed I thought we were done for!" Min leaned back against her chair and sighed.

"Yeah so did I, I thought I was going to see my dad a long time before I planned to."

"Me, too." Min reached over and gently touched her husband on the leg. "But you being there made me feel a lot better."

Johnny reached down and picked up her hand, he brought it to his lips and kissed it. "It made me feel better too."

"Such a gentlemanly gesture, you're very smooth Johnny Gage."

"That's me all right, smooth as glass."

Min turned to look at him and he simply grinned at her. She shook her head at him and sighed, sometimes he was too much.

The little Jeep Wrangler sped down the road, they were pretty far away from Hollister and they wanted to get back home before dark, and they were pretty sure that Gloria was probably very worried. They had left the house at little before 9 that morning and had been gone ever since. It was now after 7 and the sun was beginning to set, the road was beginning to get rather hilly and that was a good sign that they were finally getting close to town. 

"Boy this up and down business is like a roller coaster, if this keeps up I'm going to get seasick."

Johnny chuckled; his wife always had a way with words. "It makes the trip more exciting."

"Getting sick on the side of the road is hardly exciting."

They started up another hill and reached the top of it easily.  When they started down, gravity kicked in and Johnny thought it would be best if they slowed down before they came up on the next turn. He tapped the brake and got a very unpleasant surprise, the vehicle wasn't slowing down. 

He thought that maybe he was imagining things. He pressed down on the brake harder this time and the Wrangler still didn't slow down. He instantly thought of Catherine, her goons must have done something to the brake line. 

"Uhh…Min?"

"What is it Sweetie?"

"We aren't slowing down."

"So I noticed, hit the brake."

"I did."

Min turned and looked at him. "You did?" He nodded and she swallowed hard. "We can't stop?"

"I don't think so." He tried again and again, his foot stomped the brake pedal all the way down to the floor and nothing was happening. He even tried the emergency brake without any luck.  "We definitely got a problem."

"I'll say we do! How are we going to stop?"

Johnny began moving the wheel from side to side hoping the back and forth whipping motion would help; he also went over onto the shoulder but there wasn't enough landscape on it to help them any.

Min looked up ahead; she could see the road starting to turn sharply to the left.

"Johnny, there's a big turn up ahead; if we don't slow down this thing is going to roll!"

"I know! But it may be the only way to stop us!"

"Are you nuts? Have you ever been in a vehicle that rolled before? Well I have and its no picnic I was lucky that I didn't get myself killed!"

Johnny thought about it for a moment and an idea came to him suddenly. "We have to stop before we get to that turn; I think I know of a way."

"Okay, how?"

"Put the gear shift into park."

Min shook her head. "We can't Johnny, we're going to fast, we'll wreck."

"Maybe but this thing is going to roll anyways at least if we do it we might have a chance."

Min looked at him she knew there was no other way. "All right."

The road started to turn and Johnny felt the wheels start to lose their grip on the road; he threw the gearshift into park. The force of suddenly stopping made the back end to come up fast; it caused the Wrangler to go nose first into the ground and then go flat back down again. Min and Johnny were wearing their seatbelts but the force caused them both to be thrown violently forward.  Johnny got crushed up against the steering wheel; it felt as though it was going right through his chest. He was thrown back against the seat when gravity put the little vehicle back on all four tires and he started to cough, his chest was burning. Min's seatbelt hesitated a little before it locked up and her forehead hit the dashboard hard enough to knock her out. Johnny was finally able to breath and he looked over at his wife, he was that her forehead was bleeding and she was unconscious. He took off his seatbelt and moved closer to her, he reached up and turned on the overhead light. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the blood away from the cut seeing a large lump forming from the dashboard. He pressed down on the cut and she opened her eyes.

"Are we dead?"

"No, how do you feel?"

"My head hurts but other than that I'm okay, what about you?"

"My chest hurts; I got made into a paramedic and steering wheel sandwich."

Min reached up and touched the handkerchief. "Am I bleeding?"

"A little, it's just a small cut but you are going to have a nice lump."

"Terrific, that's all I need." 

Johnny took the handkerchief off of her head and looked at it. "Its fine, it's not bleeding anymore." He looked out through the windshield and saw steam coming out of the hood. "I wish I could say the same for our car."

Min took off her seatbelt and turned the rearview mirror towards her. She saw the cut and the big knot on her head that was turning purple. "Well at least we stopped."

Johnny got out and walked around to the front, it was crunched in and he put his hands on his hips and sighed. "It could have been worse we could be the ones all mangled."

"Yeah and I bet I know who we can send the repair bill to." She put the mirror back the way it was and opened the door; she joined her husband in front of the Wrangler. "If I ever see her again I'm going to sock her right in her nose."

Johnny laughed and put his arm around his wife. "She sure is going to be disappointed when we turn up alive."

"So now what do we do?"

"Well, I think that we are close to town it should be just over that hill. We have to find a phone and call my mom and the police."

"And then I think we should make a few more calls."

Johnny looked at her. "To whom?"

Min smiled widely. "Oh let's see, there's the newspapers and the TV stations…"

He sighed. "I don't know if we can Min. We have no proof; it's our word against the CEO of a multi-million dollars company who's going to believe us?"

Min shook her head. "That's not entirely true we have proof." She reached into her left dress pocket and took out a small tape recorder. "See?"

Johnny's mouth hung upon and his jaw hit the ground. "Where did you get that?"

"I brought it with us; I figured that it might come in handy."

He took it from her and looked at it, he hit the rewind button and let it go for a moment or two and hit the play button. He heard Catherine spilling her guts and he turned it off and laughed.  "How did you manage to turn this thing on without being seen?"

Min shrugged her shoulders. "It was easy; she was too busy giving you the eye to notice what I was doing."

"Min I could kiss you!"

"Well what's stopping you?"

Johnny laughed and put his arms around her and kissed her warmly. "Thank you, now the truth will finally come out and everything will be made right. It won't bring my dad back but at least the people that killed him will be punished."

Min smiled at him. "It was nothing; I couldn't let them get away with murder twice."

Johnny sighed and looked up at the setting sun. "Shall we take a walk?"

Min took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't think we have a choice."

He took her hand in his and the couple started walking towards town.

A bundle of red roses was gently laid at the base of Evan's grave.

"How ya doing Ev?"

An older man with salt and pepper hair was standing over the tombstone; he had his hands crossed in front of him.

"That boy of yours really came through; I knew those blueprints would do it." He crouched down and looked at the badge that Johnny had left there. "You were a good man Evan and so is your son you should be proud." He stood up and a small smile came to his lips. "Well I better go, I'll see you around."

Howard Jacobson turned around and walked away.

END.


End file.
